Hi everyone,

I’ve added three difficulty levels:

• Easy - based on the old Core mode
  
• Normal - inherits from Hard mode
  
• Hard - now even harder than before

Each difficulty has separate save data, including scores, health, ammo, and mission progress.

New Features:

• A remaining enemies counter now appears in the HUD.
  
• Balance improvements across all difficulties:
  
  • Phantom enemies are removed during early waves
    
  • Fireballs appear later and scale up slower on lower difficulties
    
  • Fireball speed and quantity scale by difficulty
    
  • Slight blackout effect added after a fireball hit
    
  • Enemy movement speed ramps up more aggressively on Hard

Let me know how each level feels - especially if you survive on Hard!

--emagnetic

Based on feedback from power users in the controller community, I’ve added a new Raw Gamepad Input option.

This mode bypasses all in-game processing (dead zones, curves, sensitivity scaling) and lets you fine-tune your controller externally - through hardware software, drivers, or Steam Input.

You can toggle Raw Gamepad Input in the game’s Settings menu. It’s a small but important step toward smoother controller play - especially on high-end pads and Steam Deck.

In addition, maps now look noticeably better on low graphics settings. I’ve reworked lighting and skylight handling to improve visual quality without increasing performance cost.

Huge thanks to the r/controller community for the feedback and expertise!